Disguised: Story Of A Swimmer Girl
by Eagle Nebula
Summary: Ayumu Takagaki is an orphan who is the top multi-skilled swimmer of a girls' school outside Iwatobi, and also Gou's forgotten childhood friend. What happens when she joins Samezuka swimming club disguising under a hoodie? How long it will take for Haruka, Rin and others to reveal the face of the hoodie wearing swimmer? OC x Various.
1. Chapter: Back to the town

**A/N:** This is my first Free! story. Hope you like it. And English is not my first language. So please ignore any kind of mistakes.

 **Disclaimer : **I don't own Free! and its characters. I only own this story, the OC and her picture attached which I created by an avatar creator app.

 **N/B:** I never heard of a female swimmer beating male in reality. In my story, it will happen for few times, not every time. The picture here represents my OC. Except for a few scenes, the whole story will go by OC's P.O.V.

* * *

 **Back To The Town**

My name is Ayumu Takagaki. Yes, Ayumu...a male name. Because my parents always wanted a boy for themselves. But that doesn't mean they didn't love me, in fact it was the opposite. My parents loved me more than anything and always wanted me to be strong and self-dependent like a boy. For some reason, they wanted me to become a swimmer. I really didn't have my own choice in my childhood, so I learnt swimming for them.

But my happiness with my parents didn't last long. When I was 6 or 7, we went on a trip to Indonesia by ship, but before it crossed Japan's borderline, a destructive typhoon occurred by which our ship was demolished into the sea. I didn't know how I made it alive but that was the last time I saw my parents.

Fortunately I was not escorted to any orphanage. My mother's twin sister was alive and I started to live with her family. I was lucky because I used to be well treated like my cousin, we were like sibling. I decided myself that I would never ever swim or would never go near water unless necessary...until I met Matsuoka siblings.

Matsuoka family lived at my aunt's next house. I used to talk with the redhead girl Gou Matsuoka, whose father was a fisherman and also was gone by the same storm. We became friends soon. She had an older brother named Rin who also liked to swim. I never talked to Rin directly. But, what I knew from Gou, was that even though their father was gone into the sea like mine, yet Rin never stopped swimming. In fact, after a few months, he won a swimming contest along with three other kids in relay, but then I had a bad experience when I went to join the same contest. Life was really painful to me at Iwatobi because it always reminded of my family and bad memories regarding water and swimming.

Meanwhile, I got admission into a boarding school in another city, which lead me leaving Iwatobi. I felt bad for missing my aunt, uncle, cousin and Gou, but by then, Iwatobi had turned into a haunted place for me. And yes, my life started to get better after leaving that town. Specially, when I learnt to live by myself. This time I was determined that I would swim for my parents...to become the best of all. In order to fulfill the target, I practiced and worked harder and harder. My ultimate target is to defeat the water wave, in which my parents were gone, so I specially worked on my speed in water. I couldn't make many friends since I always used to work out and swim in my free time. At first, it was only for beating the others, but then swimming gradually became an addiction for me.

Now I'm 15, I stand 5'5" and weigh 50 kg (110 lbs). I have fair complexion, waist-length strawberry blonde hair and violet eyes. I consider myself average though I heard people say that I have a pretty face. I also often catch guys looking at my bust because they are pretty bigger for my age. But under that, I got a muscular stomach and toned legs which no one usually expects. My workout really paid off to build an athletic body. I'm short tempered in nature and got a bad reputation for it. I wear a necklace with a sailfish pendant. I consider the sailfish symbol as my lucky charm.

My middle school was Sakura Girls' School, one of the most prestigious schools in the city I was living. Fortunately, they had a swim team in which I joined. I learnt all four types of swimming: Free style, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly because I had this tendency to become an all-rounder. I liked to swim my own so I didn't use to partake in relays. To be honest, my competitors were nowhere near me whatever the race type was. I knew that I was supposed to be slower when I grew up, so when I started swimming again, this time I never let my speed go down. Every time I used to swim, my primary focus was to increase my swimming speed than previous day. Thus, I was able to swim abnormally faster than other girls. The difference was so huge that the average time gap between me and the runners-up was around 7-8 secs. Then I quit swim team because it was useless to race anymore. Instead I joined athletics team to stretch my hands and legs more freely to swim. As for swimming, I practiced and trained myself by watching pro matches, sometimes by sneaking into boys' school's pools. And then something happened.

I made some friends in swim team. Among them, the closest one called me one night to come at school swimming pool for some reason. When I reached, there was a tall, well-built guy with my friend. He had bright red hair, golden eyes and had tan skin.

"This is my older brother, Seijuro Mikoshiba. He's the captain of Samezuka Academy's swimming team."

"Eh?!" I couldn't help but was surprised. I heard about him and his school which had a topper swimming team in Iwatobi, but never thought she would bring him to our school...to meet me particularly.

"Hello, I'm Ayumu Takagaki."

"Michiro always talks about you, but didn't mention that her school's top swimmer would be this beautiful."

That kind of speech always made my eyebrows narrow. "Ain't you a flirty one for a swimming team captain?"

"Sorry but can't help after looking at you."

Then my friend tried to distract, "You know ni-chan, Ayumu has never been beaten in any race."

"It's only because no 'girl' could beat her." Seijuro smirked, his words made my ear twitch. He was right, until now I only raced with girls.

"This is why, I left this swimming team." I snapped, "I can't learn anything if I always keep winning easily."

"You're a straightforward girl. I like that." The guy said, "In that case, care to learn something?"

"Why not?"

"I never intended to race against a girl, but since you're my sister's friend...so I'll be generous."

I was appalled now. I didn't expect this. Then my friend whined, "This will be bad, ni-chan. How can a girl compete a guy?"

"It will be okay." I cut her off, "In fact, I think I would be happier to lose to a guy than to win easy races against girls. Because, only that's how I could find the lacking in me."

"Very impressive." Seijuro commented, "But, don't embarrass yourself."

I went to my locker before quickly changing into my swimsuit. When I was back at the pool, i found the red-haired guy also in his trunk-suit. We both put on our caps and goggles, before getting into diving position. Michiro told me that Seijuro's expertise was backstroke, so I expected a backstroke race and was about to jump in water, before he stopped me.

"I'll play you 100m free-style."

"Are you underestimating me?"

"Honestly, I am. But it's up to you whether you would make me regret for that or not."

"Very well then."

My friend gave the signal to start and we jumped. It was past midnight and the water was pretty chilled. But I knew he was habituated in racing in this condition. So was I. So, cold water did not effect much on any of us. At first lap, I could finally understand the difference between a male and a female swimmer, as he got way ahead of me within seconds. But I was not the type to give up. So, I anyhow, tried to speed up. As expected, he won. I was panting, but not that tired. In fact, I somehow got confidence in myself to race against guys.

"Hmm, 3 secs gap...not bad." Seijuro seemed impressed.

"In that case, let's race backstroke this time." I blurted.

"Fine, but it will be 200m."

I was pleased with myself when he lengthened the distance, because he purposely pressurized me. During backstroke, I usually try to avoid feeling the water pressure, which helps me to swim backwards. I did not see how much distance Seijuro was ahead this time, but when we finished, both the redhead and his sister's eyes widened in shock to see the statistics. He won again but the time difference was...only 0.5 secs!

* * *

General P.O.V

 **A month later:**

At Iwatobi Swiming Club, people of different ages were practicing swimming. As usual, the swimming club members of both Iwatobi High School, Samezuka Academy and some other schools were getting ready for practice race. The first individual race was free-style swimming. So, Haruka Nanase from Iwatobi and Rin Matsuoka from Samezuka with some other candidates got ready to jump in water. And eventually the race started. Both of their teammates started to cheer them up. But...

Some frantic footsteps were heard within few seconds after the race started. Then suddenly a figure appeared out of nowhere. Whoever it was, wore a loose dark blue hoodie so no one could see his face. Then everyone's eyes widened in shock...when the hoodie guy ran towards one of the empty lines, before diving in the pool.

"What the...?!"

"Is he going to race...?!"

"He didn't even took off that hoodie!"

People around there started to buzz, but eventually they focused on the race. Haruka and Rin were far ahead of others and already reached the other side. When the two started the second lap, others were yet to touch the first end.

"Rin-senpai has gone ahead of Haruka-senpai." Aiichiro Nitori said to see his redhead teammate taking lead. But then the blackette boy passed the other.

"Yes! Haru-chan is ahead now!" Nagisa Hazuki exclaimed.

"That's really beautiful to see when two of them swim together." Rei Ryugazaki said.

While the two teams were cheering the two leads of the race, Sosuke Yamazaki from Samezuka was totally silent...as he was observing something which no one else noticed.

"What's wrong, senpai?" Aiichiro asked concernedly.

"That guy..." Sosuke pointed, "He started late, didn't he?"

The shorter then looked at the swimmer the taller indicated, "Yes, but-...EHH?! When did that hoodie come this far?!"

While the others focused on two top swimmers, Aiichiro and Sosuke were the only ones to notice that the hoodie wearing swimmer already passed the others and slowly decreasing his distance from Haruka and Rin.

Eventually, both Haruka and Rin touched the endpoint. It was not sure who was first until the scoreboard showed the result. Both of their time showed 56.44 secs in first position.

"Whoa! A tie!" Makoto Tachibana went appalled.

"I'm glad it's a tie!" Rin happily hugged Haruka who just smiled.

"It means we both won!" Nagisa hugged two of them.

Iwatobi and Samezuka team congratulated each other for the rare tie. Then Sosuke spoke up out of the blue.

"I guess there's something we overlooked." Which caught others' attention. He pointed to the scoreboard. "The second place."

All looked to see the timing of the runner-up was 58.26 secs. But the noticeable thing was, there was ' **? ? ? ? ? ? ?** ' instead of name.

"Ehh? A nameless swimmer?" Rei adjusted his glasses.

Then a splash sound caught everyone's attention, since the swimmer with hoodie now got himself up from the water. There was a violet colored sailfish symbol behind his hoodie.

"It's him...the latecomer." Aiichiro declared.

"I wonder how he managed to swim wearing that hoodie..." Nagisa scratched his head.

"He jumped in at least 5 seconds later," Sosuke commented, "But finished in just 1.82 secs behind from Rin and Haruka."

"That means..." Makoto mumbled, "He was the fastest among them even though he didn't win."

"Oi...you there!" Rin was the one who decided to be direct, "Hoodie guy."

The boy slowly turned around, but since his hoodie still covered his head, no one was able to see his face. He was shorter than others, almost same height as Nagisa. He stood there without any words, waiting.

"You did pretty good, you know." The redhead approached him, "Which swimming club you're from?"

The guy was still silent. But after few seconds, voice of an early teenage male was heard from his throat, "I'm new in this town."

"You shouldn't have been late, you know." Another voice drew attention of everyone, who was the Samezuka swimming team captain, Seijuro Mikoshiba. "The result could have been different..."

Haruka was totally silent till now, his blue eyes just intently stared the guy with hoodie. Finally, he stood in front of the other.

 ** _Flashback:_**

 _"Are you mocking me or feeling pity on me?!" I yelled at the senior swimmer, who just made an offer to me._

 _"Takagaki, do you think I would do something like that to another swimmer, who lost by just half of a second a while ago? Do you know that you're an asset?"_

 _"If I were an asset then I would not leave the swimming team here. I have my own reasons to swim."_

 _"So, you do have a target in your life, don't you?." Seijuro said, "A difficult target I assume...didn't you just say that you wanted to improve yourself? That's why, I'm offering you to come with me. Swimming is more competitive among guys."_

 _"But why're you taking this risk? Since you're the captain of a swimming team, you will have to answer your teammates for this."_

 _"You're a cute swimmer girl who is capable to compete guys. Of course, I'll be more than happy to recruit you in my team. And I can tell your performance will shut all the mouths. So, what I'm suggesting, is for both of our benefits."_

 _"Ni-chan is right, Ayumu." Michiro said grabbing my hands, "Your swimming level is far far above us or any other girl. Here you'll be just wasting your time and talent."_

 _I couldn't argue with them. I must race against tougher competitors for my own sake, no matter what they are. But the destination was Iwatobi...the place of my all distressful life events. Besides, from my childhood till now, I was not used to deal with people from opposite sex. So for me, swimming with boys at their club would be like walking on a minefield. I just managed to reply,_

 _"I need a month to think over it, Mikoshiba-san."_

General P.O.V

The hoodie-wearing swimmer felt the intense gaze of blue eyes of the black-haired boy, who was one of the winners of the friendly race, Haruka Nanase. He didn't say a word till now, not even after winning.

"What's your name?" Finally Haruka opened his mouth to the unknown swimmer, who replied hesitantly,

"Ayumu...Takagaki."

* * *

That's all for the first chapter. I guess you already know where this will go. If you like this, please leave your review and add the story to your library.


	2. Chapter: Hate at first sight

**Hate At First Sight**

Well, I never thought of doing something like this.

The moment Seijuro offered me to join his school and swimming club, I got annoyed to think whether he was joking or not. But then I realized that he saw potentials in me, and implied that risking for me might worth it. So, there was no way I could deny. Yet, I took one month...to prepare myself by more and more swimming practice and working out. Also, I had to plan for this. It wasn't supposed to be problem for me to join their swimming club as who I am, but the problem was that Samezuka Academy is a boys' high school. So, swimming club is out of question, I wouldn't even get an admission as a girl. I ordered a special water resistant swimming hoodie suite for myself, which is loose enough to hide the feminine features of my body and also quite comfortable for swimming. Thankfully, my name is already a masculine one so I didn't need to change that.

So a month later, I returned to that town, Iwatobi. Thankfully, I didn't have much time to be nostalgic. Michiro informed me that Samezuka Academy swimming team often practiced at the local swimming club of Iwatobi. I knew about the club, since I spent a quite time of childhood by swimming there. But, as far as I knew, it was abandoned after that typhoon. Here I found it reestablished. I wondered, why the Samezukas needed to practice there despite of having an elegant swimming pool.

I, anyway, entered the indoor swimming complex, wearing my special hoodie over my swimsuit. I usually tend wear dark colored girl's one-piece swimsuit that reaches my upper thigh. But now I had to wear boy's jammers along with it because obviously I would get caught if my thighs are exposed. First thing, I saw was, a race about to be start. I couldn't tell what came into me, as I found myself moving where the contestants stood. Though I was late for few seconds, yet I didn't stop myself from jumping in the water. I didn't expect much, but didn't think either that I would make third place, or so I thought since there were two ahead of me. I didn't care about the final result and got myself up from water, before someone addressed me 'hoodie guy'. I turned around to see a group of guys...better say, two groups. Because, they were wearing two different jackets, from which I assumed the dark one was Samezuka and the white one was Iwatobi High. I don't know why, I felt like I saw some of the guys before.

The one who called me, came nearer. I could see his face through my hoodie, but was cautious enough to hide myself. He had shoulder-length maroon hair and crimson red eyes. He seemed very familiar but that time I couldn't catch it. He praised me which I didn't respond to. But when he asked about my swimming club, I went freeze to think about my voice. Few seconds later, I managed to thicken my voice enough to convince them to think me as a young teen guy. Then finally I caught the sight of that guy who I came here for. But before I could speak to Seijuro, the other winner stood right in front of my face. He had jet black hair, azure blue eyes and an expressionless face, but that seemed scary to me because he looked like he was doubting on me. He directly asked my name with a cool monotonous voice,

"What's your name?"

I took time to deepen my voice as much as possible, "Ayumu...Takagaki."

"Ayumu Takagaki!" I looked around to see Seijuro almost fall over on his place. "Mi-Michiro's friend?!"

"Is that any other Ayumu Takagaki you know, Mikoshiba-san?" I retorted, "And the way you said about me being late, I thought you recognized me already." Seeing the older swimmer getting nervous, I got over my own nervousness.

"Huh? How could I tell if you suddenly show up here with this baggage on your head?!" He groaned.

That made me annoyed. I rushed towards him, before lifting my heels up enough to be level to his face. "So, you want me to take off this...right here?" I said irritably in a low tone, not wanting anyone to hear. "I thought you wanted me to join the boys' school and the swimming team of yours."

"Uh...yeah! Of course, of course!" I was amused by the priceless expression on Seijuro's face.

"Hold on." The maroon-haired spoke up, "You know this guy?"

"Yes, you know last month I went to see my sister, there I met Takagaki."

"Really?" A tall and very muscular guy with dark brown hair and teal eyes, spoke up, "I thought your sister studies at Sakura Girl's School." That made both me and Seijuro gulp.

"Did I say that Takagaki studied at that school? " Though Seijuro managed to dodge, yet I couldn't relax since this guy seemed equally suspicious like the blackette earlier. I knew I was going to suck here the moment I wore this hoodie.

"Alright," Seijuro stood at the center, "Since everyone is here, so now I'm letting you all know this. Last month when I met Takagaki, we raced twice. In the first 100m free style race, I beat him by 3 seconds, but later in 200m backstroke...our time difference was only 0.5 secs. Then Takagaki agreed to join Samezuka Academy after passing middle school. And as you all just saw, he's an excellent swimmer...So, he's going to be the new member of Samezuka swimming team."

There was a moment of silence, I looked around to see almost everyone went shocked. Of course, they didn't expect this. I had to interrupt.

"Mikoshiba-san, I think you should discuss with your teammates at first before declaring it. You should consider their opinions about whether they want me in the team or not. As per I heard, Samezuka team is already filled with best swimmers-"

"Are you an idiot?!" The burgundy haired guy snorted putting his hands on hips, "After what he said just now and the stunt you pulled a while ago, you think we'll be leaving you alone?!"

"But yet, we should test him more." The tall teal-eyed guy cut him off. I needed to be alerted of this guy.

"Sosuke, don't be too hard." Seijuro said, "We're just recruiting him. We can test him more while he's with us. Besides, I'll be retiring soon. So, we already will be needing a new swimmer.

 _Ehh?! Mikoshiba retiring?! What will happen to me then?!_

My thoughts broke by Seijuro's voice, "I'll take care of your admission tomorrow. And then you'll be officially a Samezuka."

"Who cares of the formalities?" A short guy with silver hair and aquamarine eyes spoke up. "You're already welcome in Samezuka, Takagaki-kun." With that, he and everyone applauded. Finally, I felt warm and a relieving smile formed in my lips.

"What's with the hoodie, huh?" The maroon-haired asked, and to my horror, he almost attempted to pull down my hoodie. But Seijuro swiftly stopped him.

"Takagaki has a...uh...some sort of skin disease. He gets allergic in the open air."

"Ehh? Okay then." The redhead sighed. I gratefully nodded my head to the captain. He introduced me with each swimmer. I first talked to the other swimmers before the main team of four members. Apart from Seijuro, there was the doubtful teal-eyed dark-haired, whose name is Sosuke Yamazaki. The short silverette's name is Aiichiro Nitori.

"And finally this is..." Seijuro introduced to the maroon-haired guy, "Rin Matsuoka."

The moment I heard the name, I felt like lava had been poured in my ears... _That_ _Rin Matsuoka,_ my childhood friend Gou's brother. Memories started to stir my brain...and yes, it's him.

I controlled myself to ask about Gou. Rin Matsuoka and the three other kids who he hanged out with...were the inspiration, no, frustration of my life. And to remove the frustration, I started swimming for the second time.

Speaking of other three kids, I saw them too in my childhood. After all, I watched the relay match which they won years ago. I remembered every single of their faces. And that made me turn to the Iwatobi High School's swimming team. There were four of them, and among them there was a dark blue haired guy with purple eyes and wearing a pair of red glasses. He was the only one who seemed total stranger. But the other three guys...

"Let's introduce him to the Iwatobis." Rin said.

"This is Rei Ryugazaki." It was the bespectacled guy. He waved at me.

"Hello, Takagaki-kun."

"Well, hello Ryu- ryugaki...no, Ryuzuki-..." That was really hard to pronounce.

"It's alright. You can call me Rei."

He had a nice smile, but my mood went sour after recognizing Rin. "I don't call anyone by their given names, Foureyes."

"Oh, that's okay..." He didn't decipher right then, "Wait! Did you just say 'Foureyes'?!"

"So, what of it? I didn't say anything wrong, did I?" I retorted.

"That's not...beautiful!" Rei went upset, but I was amused somehow.

"Then how about nerd, geek, or even better dunderhead, dork-..."

"Hey you!" My hand was suddenly pulled by Rin, "Don't you think you're being rude with someone you just met?"

"It's only natural to be rude with your opponents, isn't it? Unlike hugging them..." I shot back, which made him let my hand go.

"Well...they're my friends." Rin finally spit it out.

 _Just as I thought...the other three Iwatobis are those three kids..._

I countered, "Hmm...the result of the race, makes sense now."

I could see everyone's grimace when I said that, "It's just a coincidence, okay?!" Rin yelled.

"Your opponent is your close friend...then the match got tied. And after how you were celebrating that...don't you think it's a bit much to be a coincident?"

"Why you?!" The red bull then pounced on me, before lifting me up by grabbing the collar of my hoodie, "Listen you punk, we don't need an outsider verifying about that! That's none of your fucking business!"

Of course that got me fired up. But still, I managed to keep my cool. "The feeling you're having for me now...should be for your opponent while you're at the pool to race. That's what I always do...because I race to win. And if I don't win, it won't matter how fast I am."

I expected more hateful comments from Rin, but somehow my last speech shut him up. He slowly put me down. Then I grabbed his hand to move off from me. "Besides, from tomorrow I'll also be a part of Samezuka, so...it WILL be _my_ fucking business from now onward."

Then the captain decided to make peace, "Look Takagaki, I understand that being friends with different team is uncommon, but I can assure you that this match wasn't pre-planned or anything. And Matsuoka, you see, it's easy for anyone to misunderstand all of this."

"Yet he didn't have to be mean like that!" Rin shouted, "I dislike him already!"

"Matsuoka, enough! You'll be teammates from tomorrow, so you have to-..."

"It's okay, Mikoshiba-san." I cut him off, turning my back. "We don't need to get along. After all, I won't be playing any medley relay here."

I heard no reply, then slightly flinched to think if I said too much. "Well then, I won't worsen the moment anymore." I started to leave, before I heard Seijuro,

"Wait for me, Takagaki! I'll walk you outside."

* * *

General P.O.V

"What the hell is wrong with him?!" Rin grumbled, "Appearing out of nowhere then bashing us all like this...!"

"I think he was bashing only us Iwatobis..." Rei sulkily said.

"We're so sorry." Aiichiro apologized to the four. "Didn't think he would make a fuss with this."

"It's alright, Nitori-kun. It's none of your fault, not even his." Makoto smiled reassuring, "I think, Mikoshiba-kun is right. Takagaki-kun misunderstood because of the tie."

"He seemed arrogant..." Sosuke spoke up after a long, "But Rin, whatever he had been saying, he did make some points."

"What?" The said redhead raised his eyebrow.

The teal-eyed guy said thoughtfully, "I mean, we've been doing good in relay, but we can't ignore the fact that...none of us ever won any individual trophy from Samezuka or Iwatobi. Sorry but I have to say that...this newcomer really races to win, even if it's for himself only. But that's the primary factor for single races...it's all about yourself."

There was a silence for a while, because Sosuke was right. In the last two tournaments, Iwatobi won in medley relay against Samezuka. But, no one ever made it after semifinals when it came about individual events.

"But I think...it's going to change this time."

Everyone turned to Nagisa, who broke the silence. The blonde seemed enthusiastic as ever, "In the upcoming regional swimming tournament, I think Samezuka has a chance to win at least one trophy in single events."

"How could you say that, Nagisa-kun?" Aiichiro asked.

"I agree with what Sou-chan just said. So, if anyone here can win any individual event, I think...it will be Ayumu Takagaki."

"Oi Nagisa! Is that a joke?!" Rin groaned. "You expect that selfish jerk to win for us?!"

"That's the point, Rin-chan." Nagisa said, "He's selfish, that means he'll only focus on his own swimming and will do anything to win...of course that will be a benefit for Samezuka in individual races."

"Hmph...I wish he saw how nice you guys are." Aiichiro apathetically said.

"Don't worry, Ai-chan, he just met us." The blonde smiled, "And he might be mean but he's kinda cool, you see. Just like Rei-chan before he joined us..."

"Ehh? Don't compare me with him, Nagisa-kun." Rei objected, "Rin-san wouldn't be able to pull me up like that!"

"That's right. And even if he did, you couldn't keep calm like this hoodie did." Nagisa giggled, making the bluenette frown.

"Even though he's short," Rin rubbed his chin, "He's much lighter than I expected."

"I think, that's how he got advantage in speed." Sosuke commented.

While the others were talking about the newest swimmer, Haruka was thoughtfully looking down, until Makoto startled him.

"Haru, you okay?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Are you thinking about that new guy?"

No answer.

"Look, I think it'll be good for us if we could have a fair race against him. Though he's hostile now, yet I hope someday he'll be nice."

Still no answer. Makoto sighed and attempted to call the other two of his team, before he heard from the dark-haired guy,

"Takagaki...doesn't race to win for himself. He's just like me...he does it from love for water." Haruka murmured still keeping his gaze on the ground.

"Haru...what?" The taller green-eyed guy was confused.

"Nevermind."

* * *

"Now what the fuck was that out there, Ayumu Takagaki?!"

"Don't yell, you'll get people here."

I was changing my clothes at the swimming club's changing room, while Seijuro was at the other side of the curtain.

"You know what I'm talking about. Why did you have to hurt them like that?!"

"Didn't Michiro tell you that I was a sadist?" I changed into a gym jacket over a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Takagaki...I'm being serious! Was that necessary to make yourself a jerk?!"

"Of course it was." I finally came out while rinsing my hair by a towel. "If they get impressed by me, then they'll definitely be curious about me. So, I needed to make them hate me to keep them away."

"But...are you okay with this? Being hated by people around you...?"

"It won't be a big deal for an orphan like me..." Seijuro's golden eyes shot up to hear that, before looking down. He said nothing. Michiro probably didn't tell him about my family.

"Don't you worry." I took my bag on my shoulder. "All these are the external matters of the pool, and I won't let it get in the way of my swimming. I'll do my best for Samezuka. You just need to cover me up if anyone suspects me. Sorry for that."

"I should be the one to be sorry for dragging you in this mess." He said, "But I know that you won't let me down."

I finally smiled. "Thank you, Mikoshiba-san. Anyways, you should get back before they search for you." With that I started to walk to leave, having full of thoughts.

 _Sorry, Mikoshiba. I can't tell you that I was indeed being jerk with...four of them. But, I can't affect Samezuka by my personal issue, so for the sake of you and everyone in the team...I'll tolerate Rin Matsuoka as teammate. As for the other three, it's good that they're in different team...so I won't have any problem to wreck them._

* * *

General P.O.V

While Seijuro was making his way back to the pool, suddenly his hand was grabbed. It was Goro Sasabe...the founder who rebuilt the Iwatobi swimming club, and apparently Iwatobi swim team's coach.

"Go-goro-san?!" The swimmer was shocked, "Weren't you at the pool? When did you come?"

"Mikoshiba..." The man said darkly, "What more important is...what you were doing there...with a girl?"


	3. Chapter: Full of surprises

**Full Of Surprises!**

General P.O.V:

"Did Mikoshiba share his secret with you all?" Goro Sasabe declared at the pool, while approaching the swimmers.

"Goro-san...no, stop please!" Seijuro was in ultimate horror.

"Why? At least your teammates deserve to know this, don't they?"

"What's going on?" Rin asked.

"Your captain has got himself a girlfriend."

"EHH?!" Most of the Samezuka swimmers exclaimed together at that.

"Not only that...I saw them together." Goro winked. "...at the changing room."

"I thought you liked Gou." Rin narrowed his eyes.

"I still do! And this girl is not my girlfriend!" Seijuro groaned, "And we were not together there! Nothing happened."

"But senpai," Aiichiro asked, "Didn't you go to walk Takagaki-kun off?"

"Hehe that's only excuse." Goro smirked.

"Congratulations, captain!" The other swimmers from Samezuka chorused.

"Only if she were..." Seijuro face-palmed.

"What's the problem if we know that you got a girlfriend?" Sosuke said.

"Because she's not my girlfriend! I have only some business with her."

"What business, huh?" Rin calmly said, smirking, "Getting laid?"

"Ugh, shut the hell up!"

"Then who's she?"

"Just a familiar. No need to make a big deal!" Seijuro finally put end of it.

The four Iwatobis did not care much, since their mood were bitter because of the new swimmer. But suddenly Haruka spoke up,

"Coach Sasabe, how did the girl look like?"

Everyone was a bit surprised at the question from the reluctant swimmer. Goro replied anyway, "I couldn't see her face. But she had long pinky blonde hair and was wearing gym suit."

"Well, uh...I must be going now." Seijuro said, "I need to talk to the principal about Takagaki."

"Captain..." Rin irritably asked, "Don't you think that you're caring a bit much about that guy?"

"He's good, isn't he?" The captain said while turning to leave. "We need him and he needs us too. Don't judge a book by its cover." With that Seijuro walked out, while the other swimmers stared him shocked.

* * *

I came back to my aunt's house. It's been just one day I came to Iwatobi. I was in rush to inform Seijuro about my decision, and also to prove myself in front of his team. That's why, I immediately ran to that swim club. But now I decided to spend quality time with my folks because it's been years since I last saw them.

I got a new cousin, Hayato Shigino, who was not born before I left Iwatobi. I immediately loved that kid. He also started to call me 'onee-chan' even though he never met me before. He was really cute and very affectionate towards me. He had a keen interest in swimming but there was a problem, he was scared of water. I decided that I would help to remove his aquaphobia and properly teach him swimming, since I would be staying here from now. My other cousin was out of the town for a basketball tournament.

I was tired so I quickly finished my dinner and came back to my bedroom. I wasted no time in hopping on the bed and switched off the light. But then I gasped...as I found myself into an embrace by an arm.

"Who's this?!"

No answer.

"Hayato...is that you?" I assumed, as my little cousin was very clingy to me, so he might want to sleep with me. I put my hand on his hand. But...the arm was not small and soft like child, in fact it was firm and muscular...and large enough to wrap around my body.

It was definitely not Hayato! Then who...uncle?! No no...what I am thinking! Then a thief?!

I lit the bed-switch on and was about to jump, before the figure got on top of me. I pushed him off but he did not budge, instead I got my hands pinned. I wanted to yell but my amethyst eyes met an identical pair of eyes. He had rosy pink hair with messy bangs which quite resembles the color of Hayato's salmon and my strawberry blonde hair. He had a killer smile on his face which made me stop struggling. We stared each other for a while, before I finally realized that I had not seen my other cousin after coming back to Iwatobi.

"Ki-Kisumi?!"

"Kiss me...?" He chuckled, "You want me to? With pleasure." He slowly leaned down to me, before whispering, "Welcome Home, Ayumi."

"You moron! Where did you get this idiotic idea to surprise me?!" I grumbled, "And my name is not Ayumi, it's Ayumu!"

"Ayumu is a boy name. Besides, Ayumi and Kisumi sound perfect together."

"Hmph! Says the boy who got a girly name himself!" I scoffed. "Now get off me, you weigh like sumo!" Finally he got off from me and lied down beside me.

That's my cousin, Kisumi Shigino, Hayato's older brother, with who I grew up before I left Iwatobi town. We were close like siblings, even my aunt always introduced me as her daughter to others. Besides, my features were similar to my two cousins. So yeah, apart from ourselves, a very few people knew that I was their cousin, not sibling.

Kisumi was a basketball freak from childhood. He was in basketball team from elementary school. Later, when I stayed away from swimming, I used to play basketball with him. He always calls me Ayumi to irritate me.

"I thought you went on a tournament." I said. "Is that over already?"

"Nope, it has just started. Our first match was on today. Next match is on two days later."

"Huh?!"

"It was a great match today. We won by 104-72."

"Hold on! Why are you here?!"

"You know how many points I made alone?"

I hit him on his arm. "Are you even listening?! I asked what the hell you're doing here when you're in the middle of a tournament?!"

"Well..." Kisumi looked away from me. "After match, I called here and knew that you had come. Since, it's been six years you came, so I couldn't resist the urge to see you. I was also worried about you leaving before my tournament ends."

I got a weird feeling to hear that. I said looking away, "You didn't have to. I decided to join a high school here. Besides, even if I didn't, I wouldn't be leaving without seeing you."

"I know you wouldn't, cousin dear." He again hugged me, before nipping my left ear.

"Now we've met, so go to your own room." I tried to keep my voice steady.

"Don't want to." Kisumi made a pout.

"I'm tired and I want a long sound sleep. I can't if you keep annoying me like that."

"Sorry sorry... It's just, you've grown up so sweet. I couldn't control. But I just want to snuggle with you for tonight. I'll leave at my team's place at dawn before mom and dad find me."

"Ehh?"

"Umm...only Hayato knows that I'm here." Kisumi grinned sheepishly.

"You really are a dumbass." I scoffed, "Fine! Just sleep, but no cuddling or anything. Otherwise, I'll kick your ass."

"So mean..."

"Geez...why do you've to pout like that?! Are you a girl?"

"Why? Doesn't that make me cuter?"

"That makes you a fucking stupid!"

Well, I have always treated Kisumi like my own brother, even though his actions sometimes made me get curious about his actual feelings for me. But I always ignored that doubt. Kisumi was extremely good-looking and was popular with girls from the beginning. I bet he already had few girlfriends. He's just a bit clingy, no doubt that Hayato got clinging habit from his older brother.

But I could not sleep somehow. Not because of Kisumi being beside me, but by some thoughts. I suddenly remembered that Kisumi's elementary school was Iwatobi Junior, and Rin and Gou used to go to the same school. Well, the truth is that I myself used to go to the same school before I transferred.

"Kisumi, you awake?"

"Hmm?"

I turned to his side. He probably closed his eyes just now before I woke him up, as he seemed sleepy.

"I-I want to ask you something."

"What's it?" Kisumi rubbed his eyes, trying to keep himself awake.

I paused for a second, "Does the name Rin Matsuoka mean anything to you?"

I thought Kisumi would just give a 'Nah' or 'Probably...not sure.", since it was a very long time ago. But to my surprise, he got himself up to sit.

"What are you asking that for?"

"Just answer."

"He's a good friend of mine. He used to go with us in same elementary school, you remembered him?"

Knowing Rin being Kisumi's friend made my mood even fouler, "I don't have any reason to remember someone who I didn't know at elementary school."

"Then...did you meet him here or something?"

"That's none of your business. I got my answer." I again turned to my side, "Now go back to sleep." But I could not as my cousin held me.

"What's it, Ayumi?" I heard Kisumi's serious voice, to be honest, it was quite intimidating to hear that kind of tone from a cheerful guy, "Now can I ask you, why did you suddenly decide to come back to the town you hate?"

"I was hoping that you would ask that, Kisumi...took you long though." I said cockily.

"Honestly, I always thought that your image is boyish like your name..." He retorted, "But now I literally see a man under this womanly soft skin."

"I take that as a compliment."

"Now tell me...what's going on? Did something happen?"

"You will be the first to know that, but not right now. Both of us have are going through something for time being. So, come back finishing your tournament while I get my things in order." I quietly said, "Then I will share with you something that I planned to tell you long ago. For now, we need to rest."

I again felt arms wrapping me from behind, Kisumi's warm breath on my neck made me fidget, "I thought I told not to cud-...!"

"Just go to sleep." He did not care of my groan. "Goodnight, cousin dear." Soon, I felt his breath going slow and steady as he went slumbering.

"Goodnight, Cotton Candy." I murmured before closing my eyes, thinking about my first day at Samezuka Academy which was supposed to be the next day.

In the morning, I did not find Kisumi, but a note on my table, saying, 'All the best', which made me smile. But I wondered how he would react to know that I had joined the same school and the swim team with...Rin Matsuoka.

I finished my breakfast and got ready with the special hoodie over my casual wear. I got a text from Seijuro to be there within twenty minutes. When I was about to leave, my aunt and little cousin wished me luck. But at a moment, Hayato pulled me down to lean on him,

"Did you meet oni-chan?" He whispered.

"Yes, I did. He's stupid as ever, you're smarter than him."

He giggled, "I want to see you swimming, onee-chan."

"You will... And you'll see me winning." I slowly said, "It's a promise."

I stood in front of Samezuka Academy in time. I was impressed by its elegance, much like my middle school. Then I saw the captain. The white suit he was wearing, probably was the uniform.

"Let's get going, Takagaki." He said, "At first let's meet up the principal. I've already ordered for your uniform using an approximate measurement."

"Thank you very much. I like this campus. If only there were girls, I didn't have to join here like this."

"Don't worry, Takagaki. As long as, I'm here, I won't let anyone bother you with that." He assured.

"Yeah, right. Only as long as You. Are. Here!" I scoffed.

"What's wrong?" He was surprised at my sudden dark mood.

"You didn't tell me that you were gonna retire!"

Seijuro was startled, "Eh...I thought you knew that I was a third year."

Oh yeah...he was supposed to be graduating next year.

"This whole year is left. Within this time, I'm sure you will adjust here. Besides, Nitori is in your class. I asked him to help you whenever you need. So, no need to worry." He said as I was silent.

We eventually met the principal. Though he was curious about my hoodie, yet when Seijuro gave the same excuse of being allergic, there was no problem. My high school life officially started with Samezuka Academy...a boys' school.

After formalities, we went out of the school building. But there was another building beside it. Before I could ask, I heard Seijuro say,

"Let's take you visit to the dorm."

"Dorm? Excuse me?" I asked like an idiot, then made myself look like an idiot when my captain replied,

"Don't you know what does dorm mean?" He could tell from my expression, "Or, didn't you know that Samezuka is a boarding school? Seriously Takagaki, I can't believe that a smart chick like you would come to join a high school without even knowing about it!"

Ooops, an insult...which is really rare for me. I blamed myself for being too busy with swimming that made me forget about other stuffs.

"I'm sorry." All I could say. But more than that, I was thundered as I was not prepared for this...the last thing I expected, rooming with a guy!

"It's alright. I was just teasing you." Seijuro smiled, making me frown, "And there's no need to worry with this either. You wrote in the admission form that you were willing to join swimming club, didn't you? So, they had assigned you with someone from swimming team."

I looked up to him, "Is it possible that it would be you? Or, can I be in the same room with you?"

"Ehh?!" Seijuro's face turned bright red like his hair. Then I caught my mistake.

"No no no no no no...! I didn't mean anything like 'that'!" I raised my both hands defensively. "Since you're the only one here who knows about me...so I thought that you would properly give me privacy."

"I would have also been relieved to be with you but you know Toru Iwashimizu, he's already my roommate. So, I'm sorry. But since I'm the captain, so whoever your roomie is, I'll forbid them to bother you. Let's check out first who it is."

"I hope it's that silver-haired shorty." I snapped. "He seems harmless."

"Nitori? But he's with Yamazaki."

"Shit!" I grimaced. I presumed that my first day at Samezuka would suck. But unknown to me, the real blow was coming up next, when we met the club advisor and dorm manager Sugimoto.

"Welcome to Samezuka, Takagaki. Your admission process has been completed and according to your club preferences, you've been assigned with a second-year student from swimming club, whose previous roommate just graduated. So, you'll be staying at his place. It's room number 303."

"And who might be that student I'll be rooming with?" I asked impatiently.

"Eager, aren't we? I can tell you'll be getting along with him so well. Anyways, room no. 303 is occupied by..." He said checking the paper he was holding, "Ayumu Takagaki, first-year...which is you, and from second-year...it's Rin Matsuoka."

 _You gotta be fucking kidding me!_


End file.
